In the Field of Grace – A Book Review

Moved. If I had to choose one word to express my opinion on this book, that would be it.

First, a little about the book with a summary from Amazon:

Destitute, grief-stricken, and unwanted by the people of God, Ruth arrives in Israel with nothing to recommend her but Naomi’s, love. Her loftiest hope is to provide enough food to save Naomi and herself from starvation.

But God has other plans for her life. While everyone considers Ruth an outcast, she is astounded to find one of the most honored men of Judah showing her favor. Long since a widower and determined to stay that way, Boaz is irresistibly drawn to the foreign woman with the haunted eyes. He tells himself he is only being kind to his Cousin Naomi’s chosen daughter when he goes out of his way to protect her from harm, but his heart knows better.

My Review: An engrossing new take on the Book of Ruth

“In the Field of Grace” drew me in with the very first sentence. This is a beautiful retelling of the story of Ruth and Boaz. I truly love reading historical fiction because it gives the reader a refreshing perspective of a story heard many times. This was no exception.

This book was fantastic from cover to cover! I was already pretty excited about it after reading the summary and boy, it did not disappoint! I love that it was told from both Ruth’s and Boaz’s perspectives. Afshar did a great job in lining up with scripture throughout the entire story; as much as one can when writing Biblical Historical Fiction. I felt love, anger, desperation, and so much more as I went through this story with each character. I could not put this book down and would have finished it much quicker than the three days it took me if I had had the time. Ruth is such an amazing example to us in how to release everything in our lives to God, and this novel does excellently in making you truly understand this point. I also loved that each chapter started with a Bible verse that framed your mind perfectly for what you were about to read.

I definitely give this book 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who would like to read a refreshing take on the story of Ruth. I re-read the book of Ruth after I finished reading and it was so wonderful because I had a renewed excitement for reading a story that I had read at least a dozen times! I have a renewed fascination and love of the Book of Ruth. It is a story of love and trusting God with absolutely everything in our lives.

*I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Hiking in Phoenix is special to me. So I wrote a book about it called Take a Hike Phoenix. Here, I write about the silly events and personal emotions that come with this hobby that continues to enrich my life.